By Andrea Hargraves 
October starts with bad news for Portuguese wallets. From today on, gas and electricity prices will rise (in Galp only), which means bills will get heavy.
Starting October 1, households in the regulated natural gas market will face a 6.9% price increase. According to expectations, this increase will represent an increase of between 0.88 euros and 1.68 euros in the monthly bill for the most common types of consumption, such as a couple without children or a couple with two children. These values already include duties and taxes.
In a free market, the prices applied to end customers continue to vary according to suppliers and depend on the contracts in place.
The regulator stresses that the final price, in both markets, reflects network access tariffs, which cover network infrastructure costs and are regulated by ERSE.
Customers benefiting from the social tariff will continue to enjoy a discount of up to 31.2%, whether in regulated or free markets. This discount is calculated based on the prices charged in the regulated market.
In the case of electricity, prices will remain stable except for Ghalib Company customers. The oil company said that for these areas, the electricity bill will be 9% higher on average, reflecting the increase in the cost of purchasing energy.
For a couple without children, with a contracted capacity of 3.45 kilovolt-amperes (kVa), this could be at stake with an increase of €2.6 in their monthly electricity bill.
For a couple without children in the first bracket of natural gas consumption, this could represent an average increase of 2.3 euros, with VAT and other fees added to these values.
According to the company, there have been no tariff increases since October 2023, and the increases announced now reflect the higher cost of purchasing energy in international markets.
As detailed, these increases will include a 5% increase in the natural gas grid access tariff (TAR), which will also take effect in October.
*With Lusa